STORY BEHIND THE ART OF FAYE VAN WERT

21st Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists at Wave Hill

Chinese Astilbe

Astilbe chinensis 'Visions'

Astilbe has been a dependable star in my mid-summer garden for many years. Mine is a stately plant of tall, thin stems with trident flowers above thick leaf clusters. Yet without prompt staking, my flowers emerge fat and sun seeking, swooping and diving in their top-heavy showiness. My Astilbe is a feast for the senses: strong saturated colors of magenta and raspberry; fluffy panicles that demand to be petted; subtle grape notes to tease the nose; and leathery foliage that repels the rabbits with hairy disdain.

My project began in mid-September with a walk through the fall array at the local garden store. Imagine my surprise to find Astilbe chinensis beaconing in full, glorious quinacridone pink, long after my garden display had gone to seed capsules! Already, the themes of time and distance had begun to shape my work.

The flower stalks were emerging quickly in the studio, tiny stamens and pistils and petals and sepals exploding from the buds like miniature fireworks. The pinnate leaves were becoming twice pinnate on lengthening stems. Time began to conflate as drying seed stalks from the garden danced with soft flowers on my sketch pad.

Distance was created by the juxtaposition of sepia to color. My challenge was to create dimensionality in both color and monotone sepia. I needed to find the range of light and shadow in sepia amongst the intense hues of fuschia and green. The artwork needed to answer important questions. Is the background flower a shadow? Are the plant dissections blooming or dying? Does the minute detail flirt with distraction or inform the viewer?

These challenges of layout, technique, and discussions of time and distance helped to slow and define my process, my precision, and even my heart rate! My painting style has been sharpened and shaped by my number four brush and a love of all things detailed.

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